Hi all!

Ok, so I did my best to describe where they are last chapter, but if you want a better visual, google 'coal fired power station boiler' and check out the images. There are a few good ones of the inside of a boiler, it'll hopefully set the scene.

Thanks to JaneyGWF for fitting this edit into her busy life!

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

As the pain of her traumatic injuries started to slowly fade, Maura tried to get her mind to engage, to somehow think of a way out of this, but Alec's eyes bored into hers with a fierce hatred that instinctively made her want to cower, making it hard to concentrate. He wanted something very specific, and she knew that she couldn't give it to him. His sister was dead, and she was responsible, along with her very human, very vulnerable best friend. If he discovered their involvement…

Alec moved away for a moment, revealing Jane still lying on the ground gasping where she had been dropped. Their eyes met once again, and Maura realised Jane had abandoned hope just as she had.

It was understandable. Jane had made it clear that she comprehended how helpless a human was against a vampire, at least when the vampire was paying attention. The only way they had ever gotten the upper hand over a hostile vampire was with the element of surprise.

That was why she was in this position. Maura had successfully followed the trail to the Salem Harbor Power Station, a decommissioned coal power plant on the coast of Massachusetts. She had effortlessly traversed the minimal security around the closed site, noting that aside from the guards at the gate there were no employees working. The trail had led into the heart of the plant, to the boiler of one of the coal units. She had moved as quickly and quietly as possible, wanting to catch Alec unaware if at all possible. She still had Lieutenant Reynolds' gun, but she knew in a hand to hand fight that Alec would most likely emerge victorious.

Finally she had heard voices, and realised that Alec had Frankie and Jane inside the boiler. The acoustic properties of the massive space made it impossible to make out what they were saying from outside the door, so Maura removed her mask and carefully stuck her head in, trying to remain silent and undetected.

Almost as soon as her head entered the space, she had heard Alec threatening to torture Jane. Her mind instantly filled with images of the many ways she'd already let Jane down and allowed her to be hurt, twisting the ever present guilt deeper within her. Something inside her snapped, and she found herself launching into empty air, plummeting towards Alec. She had barely been aware of her decision to move, but she had fully committed herself with no recourse.

The instant she hit the floor, Alec was at her throat. Maura barely saw the blows coming, his movements so fast that she could only reel from one impact to the next, stumbling into the sloped wall after only a few seconds of inept combat.

That was when she felt the first crippling lance of pain through her torso. She was too surprised to scream, simply folding around the foreign object that had impaled her without warning. The pain was not the worst she had felt, but it was definitely in her top ten.

It was over quickly after that. She felt more impacts and more stabbing agony as nine other metal rods were jammed into and through her body, anchoring her to the wall in an unbreakable restraint. She felt more metal being twisted around her limbs, but at that point it seemed entirely superfluous.

She was already beaten, helpless, and hopeless.

Returning her attention to the present, Maura looked over at Frankie. He seemed to be covered in ash like the rest of them, but otherwise unharmed. He appeared to still have some fight left in him as he rushed over to Jane, trying to help her get up, but Maura worried that his spirit would only end up causing him more pain if he provoked Alec.

In that moment, Maura found something to focus on. She decided to do everything she could to ensure Alec stayed focused on her, and left the others alone. She wasn't sure if she was already dying, but even if she was it would be okay, as long as Jane and Frankie got out of this alive.

As Frankie managed to get Jane to her feet, both of them looking at Maura with pity and horror in their eyes, Alec regained their attention by kicking a stray piece of metal against the tubes. "Now, are we going to be doing this quickly, or drawn out over several torturous days? It's your choice, Doctor. Tell me where my sister is."

Maura met his gaze with as much sincerity as she could muster. "I don't know. She drew me into a trap involving the Boston mob, we fought, then she disappeared after throwing me into a crane. I haven't seen or heard from her since."

Alec's eyes narrowed, before turning to Jane. "And you? Is this the truth as far as you know? Or do you have something to add, little human?"

Jane took a steadying breath before answering, her eyes continually flicking back to Maura. "No, that's everything I know. We haven't heard from her in months."

Alec nodded briefly, then flashed over to Frankie, dealing him a heavy shove to the torso. Frankie flipped in the air before landing clumsily in the ash, coughing hoarsely. Jane yelled inarticulately and moved to help him, but found herself grabbed by the collar and thrown the other way. Maura jerked against her restraints, but couldn't move more than a few millimetres.

Both humans lay in the ash for several long moments, as Alec moved back in front of Maura, his eyes blazing in anger. "She's lying. You both are. I've spent centuries learning how to discern truth, do you think a human and a newborn would be able to deceive me?"

He stalked over to Frankie, who was still groaning in pain. "You! What do you know of my sister?"

Frankie looked up balefully at the irate vampire, but managed to wheeze out an answer. "Nothing. I never met her. I know she's a psycho who thought it would be fun to kill my mother, but I don't know what happened to her."

Alec gestured towards Maura with a confused expression. "I thought that was her? That was what your sister told the police, that her best friend killed her mother in cold blood."

He turned back to Jane, still looking confused. "Which does beg the question, if your dear friend drained your mother to death right in front of you, why do you care about her now?"

Jane glared back at him defiantly as she regained her feet, starting to inch over to Frankie and ignoring Maura's silent urging to be more diplomatic. "None of your business."

Alec just laughed mockingly. "Hmm, now I'm intrigued. Do you have some sort of agreement for her to turn you? Do you want to be a vampire when you grow up?"

Maura, Frankie and Jane all surprised each other with the conviction behind their simultaneous "NO!"

Alec laughed again, moving aside to let Jane tend to Frankie and get him off the floor. "Do you really dislike being one of us so much? Aren't you having fun?"

Maura scoffed in disgust. "There's nothing fun about any of this. I wish I'd never encountered a vampire. I would do anything in my power to prevent others being subjected to this life."

As soon as she finished speaking, Maura regretted letting that information slip, but she couldn't take it back so continued to frown at Alec. He looked away for a moment, absently brushing some ash off the sleeve of his cloak, before speaking in a more conversational tone. "So, returning to my point, I take it that my sister was somehow involved in your murder of Angela Rizzoli. Care to explain?"

Maura flinched as always at the mention of Angela, especially in front of Frankie. "Your sister cut her throat and forced me to…"

Maura couldn't continue, the hurt look on Frankie's face was too much. Alec whirled back to Maura, looking intrigued by the new information and appearing completely uncaring about the morality of his sister's actions. "So, apparently you managed to anger my sister enough to warrant punishment above and beyond her usual methods. What did you do?"

Maura frowned in feigned ignorance. "I don't know! I did everything she asked, but she still decided to come after my family!"

Alec paced for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Family is important. She knows that. It's why I'm going to so much trouble to find her. She's my only family, did you know that? The Volturi are like a family, it's true, but Jane is my only true relative. She's the only one that understands me, and I her."

Maura could only shake her head in disbelief at the turn this conversation had taken, but Alec didn't pause in his fervent explanation. "Most people don't even try to understand her. They just see the enforcer, the terrifying guard that ensures Aro's will is done. But there is more to Jane than just being a Volturi."

Maura couldn't quite keep the disbelief off her face, which seemed to be all the encouragement Alec needed to go into a rambling rant. "There's more to all of us! All anyone ever sees is the public face, the indomitable black and crimson line of the law. But we all have lives. Jane is one of the world's greatest astronomers! She has an alter ego that has worked at all the major observatories in the world. She is responsible for some of the greatest astronomical discoveries in history! I myself am a scientist. I work with machines, to better the lives of everyone! This power station we're standing in is owned by one of my companies! We're in the process of tearing it down, so we can replace it with a better, more efficient plant! I'm doing my part to make this a better world!"

Alec's mood suddenly shifted, becoming threatening again as he pulled close to Maura's face. "But as well as all that, my sister and I believe in order. We believe that vampires must be controlled, so that we aren't exposed. And people like you, out in the world with no idea of the consequences of your existence, threaten our way of life."

Alec turned away dramatically, allowing Maura a moment to look at Jane, who was standing protectively in front of Frankie. Their eyes met, and wordlessly communicated, with Maura interpreting Jane's thoughts easily. This guy is insane, we need to get out of here now!

Unfortunately, Maura still couldn't see a way out. She watched Alec turn his attention towards Jane once again, and felt a jolt of panic. She desperately tried to access her other abilities, hoping for a miracle, but despite her best efforts, they didn't respond.

Alec stepped next to Jane, his expression deadly serious as he pointed at Maura. "Did she kill my sister?"

Jane shook her head emphatically. "No. She didn't."

Maura sagged in relief when he stepped away, his expression thoughtful. "I actually believe you. Doctor Isles here may be innocent after all."

He turned back to Jane menacingly. "Did you kill my sister?"

Jane stared back, but before she could answer, Maura yelled over her. "No! She had nothing to do with this, it was me! I killed your sister! She didn't give me a choice, it was me or her!"

Alec snarled and pushed Jane to the ground, approaching Maura and yelling in her face. "Then you should have let her kill you!"

Moving in a blur, Alec shoved Frankie away from Jane and grabbed her by the left arm, drawing a yelp of pain as his hard fingers dug into the metal below the skin. He pulled her back to Maura, his eyes wild with rage. "Now it's your turn to suffer."

Before Maura could respond, Alec lowered his mouth to Jane's neck and bit down violently. Jane screamed, her eyes widened in agony and her arms flailed in futile resistance against the side of his head.

Maura screamed in despair, her whole body pushing against the restraints that held her back from saving her friend. They still didn't budge, leaving her helpless as he continued to drain the life out of Jane. Frankie bellowed and charged at Alec, but his brutal shoulder charge achieved nothing. He grabbed at Alec's arms, trying to pull him away from Jane, but his pitiful human strength was too little, too late.

Maura realised Jane was about to die. Despite all her best efforts, despite trying to keep Jane away from her life, despite their precautions and justifications, the Volturi had come to take away the one bright spot her life had left. She knew it would end her. She knew that if she lost Jane there would be nothing left of her.

She felt a great desperation overcome her whole consciousness, and she reached for the most repulsive ability she had with the greatest urgency and need she'd ever experienced. She felt an overwhelming hatred for the Volturi, Alec and all vampires fill her being, and somehow it touched the ability she had thought lost.

She screamed again, this time with revulsion and hatred, and the power flowed out of her and into Alec. He screamed in agony, dropping Jane as he fell writhing to the floor. Frankie caught Jane before she hit the ground, his hand covering the wound on her neck as she groaned in pain.

Maura continued to yell as she threw every bit of hatred she possessed into Alec. He continued to thrash around on the floor, his flailing limbs leaving dents in the tubes and kicking up plumes of ash.

Frankie was looking at her with great apprehension, doubtlessly afraid of the terrifying look on Maura's face, but he gathered his courage enough to yell out a question over her screams of rage. "Maura! We need to kill him! Tell me what to do!"

Maura suddenly remembered that she was still wearing Lieutenant Reynolds' weapon. Still maintaining her mental grip on Alec, she answered Frankie in a heated voice. "Get the gun off my belt, at the back."

Frankie didn't waste any time. He put a still moaning Jane down as gently as possible, then lunged towards Maura, finding the gun and prising it between the metal spikes skewering her body quickly. He turned towards Alec, took the safety off, and with a stony expression fired two shots.

The bullets did their work quickly. Two large holes appeared in the thrashing vampire, one in his chest and one in his head. He immediately stopped moving, his limbs finally collapsing as dead weights. The flames from the incendiary rapidly spread through the lifeless remains, and after a few moments only a singed cloak was left.

Alec was gone.

Frankie huffed out a relieved breath, putting the safety back on and holstering the gun. He glanced gratefully at Maura, before turning his attention back to Jane.

Maura felt shell shocked. The amount of hatred it had taken to break through the mental barrier around her powers had been staggering, and she felt appalled at the revulsion she had felt towards Alec. She had never wanted to feel that way again after their first confrontation with the Volturi, but she had embraced the strong emotions wholeheartedly when she realised she needed them to save Jane. She knew this would be an experience that would take some time to deconstruct and understand.

Now, however, she needed to know Jane was okay. Frankie had his hand over her neck wound again, but Jane was still moaning in pain. Suddenly Jane started to jerk and twitch, and she let out an ear-splitting yell.

Frankie looked back at Maura fearfully. "Maura, she's lost a lot of blood, but I don't think that's the problem."

Maura felt the weight of dread fill her whole being. "No! No, this can't happen, not to Jane, not now! No!"

Jane's whole body arched in pain, her hands clutching her chest. Maura realised her worst fears were now a terrible reality, and vampire venom had just reached Jane's heart. There was nothing to be done.

Her best friend was turning into a vampire, and it was all her fault.